Shuttle XPC SZ170R8 V2: Small but Powerful

Compact, efficient and incredibly powerful if you spring for the right parts, the Shuttle XPS SZ170R8 V2 has a lot going for it. The small form factor of the motherboard does not take away from its power. Even better is its capability as a portable machine.

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Japanese cake brand, Anime Sugar, has a tradition of releasing Christmas-themed anime cakes every holiday season, and they have announced something huge for one of this year’s biggest and most popular TV anime, Re:Zero. For their Re:Zero campaign, they are not only offering some cake, but also a special Re:Zero non-alcoholic champaigne, and a dakimakura featuring...

Have you been caught up over the hype about Microsoft’s Russian division announcing news of Service Pack 1 for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 being released to OEMs over the last few days? If so, hold on to your hats and stay that download manager: Microsoft has clarified that the aforementioned SP1 build is not intended for use by either OEMs or end-users.

When it comes to getting operating system updates and patches, leaks and premature releases of such packages are often highly sought after by power users who are willing to risk the stability of their PCs. After all,nothing beats getting first dibs on such downloads before Microsoft’s servers get swamped by download requests from Windows Updates when the files are finally released officially to the public.

Needless to say, a mega-patch such as Service Packs for Windows are usually on the stop of such users’ priority, For one, Service Packs pack huge file sizes, and Windows Update has been known to not offer Service Packs to users over the slightest incompatibility issues. But if you are one of those users who have resorted to downloading the reported final build of SP1 for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, you might want to think twice before running that file: Microsoft has just clarified that the news of its Russian division confirming the release of SP1 to OEMs was inaccurate on all accounts, and it has issued no such builds to any OEMs.

Apparently, the Redmond giant’s Russian Technet site created a huge hoo-ha when a user by the name of Alex A. posted an announcement claiming that Microsoft had signed off build 7601 of the alleged update package as the official RTM version of SP1. In addition, Alex A added that Build 7601 will be made available to users by the first quarter, a revelation which comes shortly after Microsoft had released update KB976902, which is a prerequisite necessary to successfully install and to remove any service packs to all versions of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, thus sparking off rumours that users may see a January release of SP1.

However, it appears that Microsoft have gotten wind of the alleged leak and has since move to quell rumours that SP1 has already been released to OEMs. True enough, visiting the Russian Technet blog reveals that an edit has been made to announce that no OEMs have received any SP1 builds at this time, although the software giant has confirmed that a Q1 release for SP1 has been planned.

That being said, reading Microsoft’s statement carefully reveals that the company had conveniently failed to address the all-important question; whether the leaked Build 7601 is the actual build which it intends to sign off for RTM status. And until Microsoft addresses this burning question, we’d strongly encourage readers to avoid downloading Build 7601 of the SP1 update from file sharing sites. That is, unless you happen to be very good friends with your Windows 7 DVD and the dreaded ‘Service Pack failed to install’ error message